I am so excited to be here to serve you as the new Principal. First let me introduce myself, my name is Jodi Vanderheiden. I have been in education for 22+ years.;18 years as a middle school teacher. Most recently I was the Pre-k through 12thgrade Principal at Sacred Heart Catholic School in East Grand Forks. My husband, Bob, and I live in Alexandria where we have recently built our new home. We have been married for 28 years and have three grown children. Allissa 25, Jennifer 23, and Steven 20.

I have been working hard to get the lay of the land and get things ready for teachers and students to return for another successful school year at Mary of Lourdes. We are currently expecting 210 students to arrive in September eager to start a new year of growth. As many of you know we have been searching for a few new staff to fill positions from movement of last years staff. We currently have a new 5thgrade teacher Kailey Egan and a new art teacher, Patricia Tadmori. We are still searching for a full time science teacher for the middle school. We have not had any applicants for our Spanish position and have decided to take a different direction with our Spanish program. Students in Spanish will meet two days a week, Tuesday and Thursday and will be working on a web based program that will allow students to work at their level at their own speed. We are very blessed to have Mr. Hurd to facilitate this class.

I am very excited to meet all of you and your students at Open House on the 29thof August. Please feel free to stop and introduce yourself before the 29th. I am in the office from 8-3 Monday through Friday.